Chapter 26
“…You’re a mage?”
“I’m not skilled enough to be called a mage, but I once read in a grimoire about a spell useful in this kind of situation.”
Just from reading?
Heinrich thought so, but in truth, that detail didn’t matter to him. All that mattered was whether he could obtain the magic tool.
Once Heinrich gave his permission, Nadia looked down at Vivian.
“Vivian, will you be all right?”
“Well, it’s better than throwing up myself, I suppose.”
Vivian, pale as a sheet, still forced a joke.
Nadia didn’t have the energy to respond. She quickly laid Vivian down and began to carefully trace the mana flowing through her body.
Everything contained mana, but the current inside a human body and that of a magic tool were completely different.
Nadia pushed her own mana into Vivian, wrapping it around the jagged edges surrounding the magic tool. Then, little by little, she began to move that lump of mana.
“Ugh…” Vivian groaned.
“Just hold on a little longer.”
But Nadia’s own hands were trembling violently.
She had studied magic only as a pastime—this was practically her first time using it in practice. Before, if mana control became too difficult, she could simply give up. But now, she couldn’t.
And the more she was driven to the edge, the brighter her golden eyes shone.
Cold sweat rolled down her cheeks. Her breathing grew ragged. Yet her focus never wavered.
At last, Vivian gave a harsh cough and spat up the small magic tool.
Nadia hurried to wipe her mouth with a handkerchief, asking over and over if she was all right.
Meanwhile, Vivian awkwardly tried to hide the tool under her skirt, a sight both messy and ridiculous.
“My lady, you’d better hold onto this first. What if he insists on taking it?”
Vivian kept coughing but still glanced nervously at Heinrich and Allison.
“That secretary’s a real eccentric. Looks like a gentleman, but…”
Nadia suddenly grabbed Vivian’s arm tightly and forced her upright.
“Vivian!”
Startled, Vivian stiffened.
Nadia’s eyes were red.
“Never do something this dangerous again. I… I can’t stand watching someone die in front of me. Do you understand?”
“It’s not like I was going to die—”
“Promise me. Please.”
Nadia’s final words were nearly a plea.
Vivian finally lowered her head.
“…I’m sorry. I truly am.”
Since Vivian seemed sincere, the strength left Nadia’s body at last. She collapsed against the chair, then looked outside the carriage where the two men were still waiting.
“…Even if I don’t show you the magic tool now, it would be meaningless, wouldn’t it?”
“Don’t make such foolish choices.”
Heinrich’s voice was as cold as ever.
But his expression had changed, if only slightly.
Before, he looked like someone who wouldn’t bleed even if stabbed. Now, at least a drop might flow.
Perhaps Vivian’s loyalty had touched him.
That was how Nadia saw it, anyway. She had never expected Vivian, who had barely known her, to go this far for her sake.
“…I’d like you to acknowledge my maid’s loyalty. I’ll examine it first, then deliver it afterward. I know you’ll say it’s meaningless, but still…”
“Do as you will.”
His reply came more easily than expected.
Just like that, Heinrich vanished as if he had never been blocking the carriage at all.
Allison, still bewildered, stammered, “Ah, well, I-I’m glad you’re safe. And, uh, about knocking your maid out, I truly apologize. If you’ve got a headache or anything, just bill me for the treatment. Then I’ll take my leave.”
Flustered, he ran after Heinrich.
Relieved of tension, Nadia let out a weak laugh.
“He hasn’t changed one bit…”
Allison had been raised alongside Heinrich as a child secretary. Intelligent, athletic, and yet—perhaps because of his tender heart—he was sometimes clumsy.
But Heinrich only cared about competence, and Allison’s loyalty was absolute. So he had remained by Heinrich’s side to the very end.
Vivian, misunderstanding Nadia’s words, grumbled toward Heinrich.
“See? Still heartless. Cold as ice.”
Normally, Nadia would have disagreed. But today she couldn’t.
That merciless face she had just seen would not leave her mind.
Heinrich mounted his horse in a fury.
Allison shouted something behind him, but Heinrich didn’t care to hear it.
He clenched his jaw, recalling his meeting with Nadia.
Every time I face her, my patience runs dry.
The time he had drawn his sword on her—it had been the same.
Yes, he had been enraged then, but he could have restrained himself. Yet somehow, with her, he couldn’t.
Just now, too, he had intended to negotiate calmly over Vivian’s condition. The matter of her swallowing the tool, whether she should vomit it out or have a physician summoned—petty arguments like that were not his way.
And yet, whenever it came to her, rational judgment abandoned him.
“Never do something this dangerous again. I… I can’t stand watching someone die in front of me. Do you understand?”
That woman, normally so sharp and calculating, had turned red-eyed and desperate—for the sake of a mere maid.
And Heinrich knew why.
That woman—Nadia—resembled his late wife far too much.
When Heinrich had driven out the servants who touched his belongings, he hadn’t felt triumphant. Only disappointed.
I wanted to show my wife I could be relied on.
It was not the sort of thought an eight-year-old boy should have. But Heinrich truly meant it.
When he had been told he must marry a sixteen-year-old, Heinrich hadn’t been shocked. His father had always told him: as the duke’s heir, he must sometimes do what he didn’t wish.
Besides, his parents’ own marriage had been political, yet they had respected each other and built a beautiful household.
So Heinrich resolved to do the same.
Up until he walked into the wedding hall, that was all the feeling he had: duty.
But the moment he stepped onto the red carpet and saw the bride approaching, Heinrich was astonished.
An angel…
As the young heir, Heinrich had met countless people—many beautiful, many graceful. But never had he seen anyone both so beautiful and so graceful as his bride.
Her golden hair, braided up elegantly, gleamed beneath the white veil that covered her face. She was like a living painting.
And when she drew near and looked into his eyes, her blue gaze was deep as a lake, almost mystical.
Perhaps Heinrich was too young to define it as love, but to him, Ribeña seemed like an angel descended for his sake. He fell completely for her.
Yet even to an eight-year-old, marriage was reality.
On their wedding day, the angel who promised to make him happy kept her vow.
She shielded him from false rumors. She made sure he held authority before the retainers by not treating him like a child.
Whatever she did, she asked his opinion first. Even for formal reports, she wrote them as if submitting to her lord.
She worked tirelessly to show the household and the world that Heinrich Baldwin was the only master.
But Heinrich still longed to speak with his angel more.
Why had she accepted this arranged marriage?
What price was she paying to protect him?
Did she not mind that her groom was just a clueless boy?
What could he do to earn her trust, so she would stay even when he became a man?
He longed to know all of it.
So Heinrich resolved to appear more reliable.
This time, he would personally uncover the traitors.
That way, Ribeña could act more freely within the household, and she would surely trust him more.
He decided to change tactics.
Instead of laying traps at random, he would narrow the suspects carefully.
What sort of people betray? What kind of traits do they have?
Those content with their lives had little reason to betray.
No, it would be those who were either desperate in poverty, or had already committed shameful misdeeds.
The former were already somewhat screened. So he would focus on the latter.
Heinrich ordered the butler and a few trusted servants to investigate the others and report to him.
The reports he received were as follows:
Stablehand, Peace: Interested in gambling, but not to an addictive degree.
Laundry maid, Nina: Occasionally puts on the duchess’s clothes in secret.
Chef, Laura: Diligent and sociable.
Guard, Eddie: So rigid that he often quarrels with fellow guards.
